History Main / InfernalBackground

* In the ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'' episode "Martial Art", Lamput notices his popcorn has been destroyed and gets mad at Fat Doc and Slim Doc for it. Both the hero from the martial arts film he had been watching in the theater auditorium and a bunch of flames appear as he shrieks at them.

When a character is plotting something wicked, flames often appear in the background. The fire often comes out of nowhere, although the character may actually stand in front of a burning object for the same effect. Either way, it is simply meant for dramatic effect. The use of this trope can vary on the SlidingScaleOfSeriousnessVersusSilliness: it can be used in a serious way, to make a character seem legitimately intimidating, or it can be used in a silly way, due to its somewhat over-the-top nature.

* ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'': "Time's Arrow" does this with Joseph Sugarman [[spoiler:when he's implicitly threatening to lobotomize his daughter]].

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Rugrats}}'': In "What the Big People Do", Tommy and Chuckie have a FantasySequence about being grown up and going to work. All goes well until they are called into [[MeanBoss The Boss]]'s office. On the way, Chuckie tells Tommy about how his dad is always afraid that ''his'' boss will fire him. Both Tommy and Chuckie [[LiteralMinded take that to mean they're going to get charred]]. The boss turns out to be Angelica, [[DevilishHairHorns with her ponytails turned up to look like devil horns]], sitting in a big chair in front of a window that looks out on a blazing inferno. On either side of her desk is a [[FireBreathingWeapon bronze Reptar statue that shoots flames from its mouth]].

* Parodied in ''WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants''. Spongebob claims that Krabby Patties are "good for your soul", causing him to gain a halo, wings, and a FluffyCloudHeaven background as a CherubicChoir plays in the background. Squidward retorts by saying he has no soul, causing a fiery background to appear, complete with an EvilLaugh. [[MediumAwareness This surprises Squidward]], and the background suddenly disappears when he looks around in shock.

* In the intro of ''VideoGame/SuperSmashBros Melee'', Mario's nemesis Bowser appears standing in a field of flames. With Bowser himself darkened aside from his GlowingEyesOfDoom, the effect is pretty creepy... or badass.
** In ''[[VideoGame/SuperSmashBrosUltimate Ultimate]]'', Sephiroth's victory screen is unique in that it depicts him standing among flames, in reference to the Nibelheim Incident of his own game.

** In ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaOcarinaOfTime Ocarina of Time]]'' The Deku Tree shows Link a vision of Ganondorf riding his horse between two walls of flame.
** Likewise, ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTheWindWaker The Wind Waker]]'' shows Ganondorf standing in a ring of fire when the King of Red Lions explains who he is to Link.
** ''[[VideoGame/TheLegendOfZeldaTwilightPrincess Twlight Princess]]'' finally has Ganondorf do this first hand during the flashback scene where he meets [[spoiler: Zant]]. Ganon first appears as a giant ball of fire and pulls [[spoiler: Zant]] inside, where he appears as a giant flaming face surrounded by a flaming background.

* ''Machinima/Supermarioglitchy4sSuperMario64Bloopers'': In "THE BOOTLEG DIMENSION", a fiery background appears behind Professor E. Gadd when he warns Mario not to touch his malfunctioning PortalPicture that leads to the titular world.

Compare BackgroundHalo (that is, the evil variant involving horns), BattleAmongstTheFlames, FireballEyeballs, and DevilishHairHorns. Contrast HolyBacklight.

%%Image restored per Image Pickin' thread: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/posts.php?discussion=1654566910011359100
%%Please don't change or remove without starting a new thread.

[[quoteright:350:[[WesternAnimation/SpongeBobSquarePants https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hellsquid.png]]]

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/TotalDrama https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/evil_mike_5.png]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"''One by one, they will all fall...''"]]

** When Mal, Mike's SuperpoweredEvilSide, makes his debut in "[[Recap/TotalDramaEvilDread Evil Dread]]", he says his first line of dialogue against this. (see page image)

Compare BackgroundHalo (that is, the evil variant involving horns), BattleAmongstTheFlames and FireballEyeballs. Contrast HolyBacklight.

[[quoteright:300:[[WesternAnimation/SpongebobSquarepants https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/squidward.jpg]]]]
[[caption-width-right:300:"Oh, puh-leez. ''I have no soul.''"]]

Compare BackgroundHalo (that is, the evil variant involving horns), BattleAmongstTheFlames, FireballEyeballs. Contrast HolyBacklight.

Not to be confused with having demonic ancestry.

* ''Videogame/{{Borderlands}}'': In Claptrap's Robolution DLC, the Vault Hunters are introduced to Mr. Blake, head of MegaCorp Hyperion's Mercenary relations decision. His introductory splash is backed with flames, which when coupled with his [[HornedHairdo pointy hairstyle]] makes him look like the Devil. However, despite seeming sinister at first, he [[DarkIsNotEvil turns out]] to a ReasonableAuthorityFigure who, despite being sarcastic and dour, [[HonestCorporateExecutive deals with the Vault Hunters honestly and pays them well for their efforts]].

* ''WesternAnimation/TheHunchbackOfNotreDame'': The song "[[VillainSong Hellfire]]", where Frollo sings about his VillainousCrush on Esmeralda, is sung in front of a fireplace. Later, it's backed by {{Hellfire}}.

Not to be confused with having [[MixedAncestry demonic ancestry]].